In March 2020, when most schools and colleges were closing down and sending hostel residents back home, Sudhir K Jain did the opposite. The director of IIT-Gandhinagar not only asked all students still on campus to stay back if they wished, but he also sent out an email asking students who were home for Holi and final year students trekking in Uttarakhand they could return.
The message was: the campus is your home away from your family home. You are free to pick.
This was in contrast to many colleges, including other IITs, that in March asked students to go